E3 2014: Round Up, Thoughts and Opinions | The AAA’s

Well they said this years E3 would be all about games and they were not wrong. Both the first party and third party publishers had a lot to show us. Sadly, it seems that if your game is not out in October then it has to wait for 2015.

Microsoft got all the Kinect-less Xbox and price drop information out before the conference and so they could concentrate on getting us all excited about upcoming titles, and there was a a lot of them…

Here is my opinions on just some of the announcements:

Halo: The Master Chief Collection

I have mixed feelings about this one as I enjoyed the Halo games at the time but I feel like I have had that experience and that this collection is not really necessary. Ideally I would just like Halo 5 and I feel that this is just a money spinner because they know that people will buy it. I know I will, but somewhere at the back of my mind I will have a nagging feeling that its all part of a bigger strategy to push the TV show and re-introduce our favorite Spartan to a younger audience. However, I’m sure I will buy it, play it and enjoy it.

Assassin’s Creed 5 – Unity

I lost interest in the assassins creed series’s after the sequel but the era of the French Renaissance has a quiet pull on me. Personally I think it is too soon after Black Flag to warrant a sequel. However I am yet to play black flag so I wonder if this would if this has influenced my opinion.

Evolve

For playability, this has to be my game of the show as this game was SO much fun to play. Being both the hunter to the hunted this four player co-op multiplayer definitely had people queuing round the block.

Sunset Overdrive

This game rides a fine line between being awesome and being awful. Initial impressions are positive as the cartoon style, furious action and general sense of fun stand it apart from other shooters but after seeing a standard AK47 machine gun in the gameplay demo a seed of doubt has been planted in my mind. Please don’t disappoint me.

Crackdown

This was the biggest surprise of the for me as I really enjoyed the first crackdown and was sorely disappointed by the sequel. It looks, however, that the game has returned to its roots bringing back the old announcer as well as some of the over the top super cop action. Although it was only a CGI trailer, it hinted at 4 player co-op, a fully destructible city and the same power up mechanics as the original.

Call of Duty: Advanced Warfare

Not much new revealed here but it looks better than ghosts, so that’s a plus. It’s also great to see how Battlefield and COD have chosen different paths this time which is refreshing.

Rise of The Tomb Raider

Not just one sequel announce but two! As the next-gen re-fresh did so well for them it is no wonder they want to continue the momentum. I had a lot of fun with the reboot and look forward to seeing how Lara’s tale unfolds.

The Division

By the time this game comes out it will have seen three E3 events. The initial teaser last year got me very excited and the additional gameplay footage this year helped re-ignite that enthusiasm but can they keep people’s interest for another year?

Mortal Kombat X

This is shaping up to be a very exciting brawler as the E3 gameplay footage not only showed an array of new characters but also introduced us the use of 3 variations for each character, as well as the all new X-ray moves. The animations look fluid and the finishing moves look as gruesome as ever.

Battlefield Hardline

The leaked demo of this game before the show disappointed me somewhat as it looked like a mod but thankfully my woes were quelled after seeing more of the official footage. This exciting new direction is being handled by — whilst Dice concentrate their efforts on Star Wars Battlefront.

Dragon Age: Inquisition

Possibly the best looking game of the show. The visuals looked amazing and despite its delays I think a lot of people will enjoy this. However, after the hundreds of hours I sunk into Oblivion, Skyrim and Dragon Age 2 I am not sure I should go near this one for fear of losing another 100.

Batman: Arkham Knight

I didn’t meet a single person at E3 who wasn’t excited about playing a next-fen Batman. It’s just a shame it will be the last one by Rocksteady. However, they plan to go out with a bang as the bat mobile not only races through the street like a formula one car but also transforms into a pretty mean looking tank.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

Another game that feels like it has been around for a little too long. At last years E3 we saw a 45 minute play through and it looked great and then at this years we got yet another 45 minute play through. It still looks good but if it doesn’t come out soon then my ‘fantasy’ game slot might be filled by another title.

It’s been three months now since the unveiling of Xbox One and during this time there has been a lot of...

Ian GarstangSeptember 7, 2013

Gaming Debugged is a gaming blog covering mainstream and indie gaming, game design and development, news and comment from the games industry.

I like to mix up the content by providing useful information such as 'how to get started in the games industry' with the big questions (down the pub) such as 'who are the biggest game bad guys, which game location would i go on vacation to' and 'which gaming hero could you take home to meet your mum'.

Gaming Debugged (previously Debug Design) is the personal website and blog of indie gamer Ian Garstang, Graphic designer, SEO enthusiast, Indie game designer and developer and creator of Graphic Buffet, an online resource for indie game developers selling vector game graphics, art and assets for use in video games development.